A multiplicity of different camping kitchens are commercially available from various commercial vendors, and which are useful as food preparation centers for a multiplicity of outdoor activities including camping, tailgating, family gatherings, or the like.
An example of a commercially available camping kitchen of the type described is manufactured and sold by the Coleman Company and is identified as the “Exponent Deluxe Camping Kitchen.” This commercially available folding camping kitchen includes among other things a kitchen surface having a removable sink with drain; a plug for the sink; a removable drain hose; a game board on a lid and which also operates to cover the kitchen surface when the kitchen is not in use; and a side table having a fire resistant or metal surface which folds outwardly from below the kitchen surface and which is generally oriented in coaxial relationship relative thereto. This camping kitchen is fabricated of heavy duty aluminum and folds to a size which usually will fit easily into most car trunks.
Other prior art camping kitchens have included various containers or enclosures which provide assorted sized storage spaces for enclosing various camping supplies such as gas stoves, cooking utensils, tableware, and the like.
While these various prior art camping kitchens have worked with some degree of success, various shortcomings have detracted from their usefulness. For example, one perceived difficulty with folding camping kitchens such as exemplified by the Coleman Deluxe Camping Kitchen, has been the lack of stability of the camping kitchen when it is used on uneven terrain. In this regard, it is well known that most camping sites are often not very level. In view of the narrow width and the longer length dimensions of these camping kitchens, the camping kitchens tend to be unstable, unless they are placed on a nearly horizontal surface.
Yet another shortcoming with the prior art camping kitchens such as what has been discussed above relates to their overall configuration. In this regard, the camping kitchens that are commercially available are typically designed to be deployed in one configuration only. More specifically, they do not provide a convenient means whereby the camping kitchen can be deployed in alternative arrangements to address user preferences such as to accommodate left and right handed users, or to further allow the user to expand or otherwise rearrange the components to fit the user's preference or to meet the needs of a specific outside event.
A versatile and portable kitchen which addresses the perceived shortcomings in the prior art products and practices employed heretofore is the subject matter of the present application.